ÈËÊÞÐÔ½»

The Port Byron southpaw struggled to find a way to gain velocity, which led him to lose some of his motivation on the mound. But after multiple sessions with his pitching coach, an adjustment in his lower body unlocked what he was looking for. Now, Usowski is pitching at his best — and etching his name into the New York state record books. 

After the Panthers were swept by Mexico in a doubleheader April 17, he was eager to get his team back in the win column against Pulaski on Tuesday. But that's not all he would do.

Usowski delivered the top performance of his Port Byron tenure that afternoon, throwing the second no-hitter of his career and sitting down a career-high 21 batters.

The number of strikeouts  in New York State Public High School Athletic Association history. 

"Looking back at myself, five or six years ago, I never saw me becoming this great at this," Usowski told ÈËÊÞÐÔ½».

"I think younger me would be really proud of myself. I'm really proud of myself now, for just sticking with it and grinding and pushing it out. I'm really proud of myself for doing this and not giving up."

The pitcher's start, however, wasn't so promising. After striking out the first Blue Devil he faced, Usowski walked and hit two of the next three batters.

But he rebounded by tallying his third strikeout to get out of the jam. That was the first of 11 straight. Ultimately, he struck out 19 of the next 20 Blue Devils he faced. 

For head coach Angelo Biondo, Usowski's response to his rocky start on the bump showed just how much the southpaw has matured over the years. 

"He's not phased and he just wants to win," Biondo told ÈËÊÞÐÔ½». 

“We used to call him ‘the baby deer’ with his mechanics (when Usowski was an eighth-grader). He was kind of wobbly. It looked like he didn't know how to stand on two legs sometimes, but he still got the job done. The mechanics have cleaned up so nicely. The mentality has cleaned up so nicely. It's just been a pleasure to watch."

Alluding to Usowski's commitment to playing Division I baseball at Le Moyne College in Syracuse next year, Biondo said he and the team would miss the pitcher next year. 

"The growth throughout the five years watching him has just been outstanding," the coach said.

With his single-game high in strikeouts on Tuesday, Usowski is now six away from 400 in his varsity career, and 14 away from entering the top 10 in NYSPHSAA history. Through four starts and 23 innings pitched this season, the southpaw has posted 55 strikeouts and four wins, and owns a remarkable .61 ERA.

But Usowski hasn't just been the Panthers' ace. He's also been their top option at the plate in the leadoff spot. On Tuesday, he drove in two runs, scored twice and picked up a pair of hits. 

Through 20 at-bats this year, the senior has racked up 12 runs, 10 hits, eight RBIs, two home runs and a .500 average — all stark improvements over his junior year, when he averaged .239.

"My coaches went over a different approach with me, and I really took that into serious thought," Usowski said. "It really helped me just see the pitch better. I really wanted to focus on hitting, because I know my pitching is already there. Especially being my last year, I want to go out (with) both sides being pretty good, and it's paying off so far."